Round 5: Hiring Manager
This round felt more like a casual conversation than a formal interview. The interviewer asked about my interests, past experiences, and notable projects. There were also three situational questions aimed at addressing Amazon’s leadership principles, such as dealing with conflicts with a manager and prioritizing tasks between operational excellence and business requirements.
The Offer
A few days later, the recruiter called to congratulate me on my success in the Amazon interview. I received favourable ratings, with two strong hires and three hires. Considering competing offers from a startup and PhonePe, I shared the details with the recruiter. Based on this information, the recruiter presented an initial offer that appealed to me, leading to my acceptance. Consequently, I joined Amazon as an SDE-2.
Key Takeaways:
- Amazon interviews: Aim to solve two problems within the 1-hour timeframe.
- Leadership principles: Interviewers keenly observe and assess your alignment with Amazon’s leadership principles during both technical problem-solving and general conversation.
- Flexibility in timing: Amazon interviewers may offer additional time if you’re on the right track, but this can vary between different interviewers.
Amazon Interview Experience For A SDE-2
Back in 2017, I was working at a startup that was struggling to secure its next round of funding. With financial obligations piling up, I decided it was time to move on. I reached out to a recruiter at Amazon who had been involved in my previous Amazon interview process in 2016 when I received an offer for an L3 role. Unfortunately, I found out that he had left Amazon, so I contacted a few random technical recruiters at Amazon on LinkedIn. Thankfully, one of them responded and asked about my availability for an interview. I requested at least two weeks to prepare, which he agreed to.
At that time, Amazon was actively recruiting and holding hiring events on weekends. If you were invited for an in-house interview, you had to go to their office and complete all the interview rounds in a single day. They even provided lunch for all the candidates. I fondly remember those face-to-face interactions, which have since been replaced by virtual online interviews post-COVID. I miss those in-house interviews.
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